Golf needs people like Tiger, says Campbell

Former US Open champion New Zealander Michael Campbell, 45, who famously defeated Tiger Woods by two strokes to win the 2005 US Open, is co-hosting four studio review shows with FOX Sports in Singapore for this month’s US Masters.

The first major of the year will keenly feel the absence of world No 1 Woods, who is skipping the tournament for the first time in 20 years to undergo back surgery, Campbell said.

“It is like Michael Schumacher in Formula One or Pele in football – the sport needs people like them. Tiger is still a big draw in golf,” he said.

Apart from his 14 majors, Woods’ “self-motivation and self-belief” is something that Campbell wished he had after his 2005 US Open win.

“I should have reset my goal of winning a major to winning another one, and so on … But it was all fun, and I am still taking part in the sport.”

Campbell lives in Sydney.

Original article by Adelene Wong, Today Online, April 9, 2014.

Photo by Wee Teck Hian.